Insects look like this:

Abdomen
Thorax
Head
 Insects look like this:

Thorax
Head
Abdomen
 Visible to the naked eye: Arthropods mostly

Hexapoda aka Insects
– Pterygota aka Winged Insects
» Coleoptera aka Beetles
» Diptera aka Flies & Mosquitoes
» Hemiptera aka True Bugs
» Hymenoptera aka Bees, Wasps & Ants
» Lepidoptera aka Butterflies & Moths
» Odonata aka Dragonflies & Damselflies
» Orthoptera aka Grasshoppers, Crickets, Roaches & Mantids
» Neuroptera aka Lacewings and Antlions … Etc etc
– Wingless Insects
» Thysanura aka Silverfish & Rockhoppers

Myriapoda aka Arthropods with many legs
» Chilopoda aka Centipedes
» Diplopoda aka Millipedes
Millipede:
Centipede:
 Visible to the naked eye: Arthropods mostly


Chelicerata aka Arthropods with jointed biting organs (most have
eight walking legs)
» Arachnida aka Spiders
» Opilionida aka Harvestmen
» Scorpionida aka Scorpions
» Pseudoscorpionida aka Scorpions
» Etc etc


Mollusca: Gastropoda aka Snails & Slugs
» Pulmonata aka Freshwater Snails & Air-breathing Snails & Slugs
Spiders etc:
 Microscopic or nearly so: plenty of Arthropods

Hexapoda aka Insects
– Pterygota aka Winged Insects
» tiny Diptera = gnats & midges
» Tiny Hymenoptera = egg-parasitic wasps
» Thysanoptera aka Thrips
» Psocoptera aka Booklice & Barklice
» Etc etc
– Wingless Insects
» Collembola aka Springtails

Chelicerata aka Arthropods with jointed biting organs
» tiny Arachnida aka the smallest spiders
» Acari aka Mites
Not all mites are transparent & tiny!
 Diptera: True Flies, Mosquitoes, Midges & Gnats

One pair of flying wings

Drumstick-shaped gyroscopic organs just
behind & below the wings: halteres
 Diptera: True Flies, Mosquitoes, Midges & Gnats

One pair of flying wings

Drumstick-shaped gyroscopic organs just
behind & below the wings: halteres
 Fly Diversity in the Southwest

Asilidae aka Robberflies: aerial interception
predators with deeply separated eyes,
protruding beak and high thorax
 Fly Diversity in the Southwest

Asilidae aka Robberflies: 400 species in CA! 170 nowhere else in US!

Efferia:
mid-sized desert & dry wash specialists,
tend to perch at or near ground level
 Fly Diversity

Asilidae aka Robberflies
Stenopogon: mid-sized canyon & slope
specialists, perch on twigs and branches
more often than Efferia, like to lean
sideways, males have whitish wing bases
 Fly Diversity

Asilidae aka Robberflies
Sneaky mimics in the bosque Blepharepium

Mallophora
 Fly Diversity

Asilidae aka Robberflies
Oodles of smaller species...

Machimus
 Fly Diversity Promachus


Asilidae aka Robberflies
.As well as 1.5 inch jumbo sized
interceptors: the giant robberflies

Proctacanthus
 Fly Diversity


Bombyliidae aka Beeflies: Bee- or wasp-mimics, super agile
pollinators, larvae parasitize other insect larvae (especially
ground bees, moths, beetles, etc etc). Body furry/scaly; wings
often tinted/speckled.

Hemipenthes
 Fly Diversity


Bombyliidae aka Beeflies: Wing tips often have 2 strongly curved
veins.

Hemipenthes
 Fly Diversity
Villa agrippina


Bombyliidaea aka Beeflies:
Endless diversity in sizes
and color patterns

Lepidanthrax
 Fly Diversity Poecilanthrax
eremicus
Villa agrippina


Bombyliidaea aka Beeflies:
Endless diversity in sizes
and color patterns
Lordotes planus

Lepidanthrax
 Fly Diversity
Villa agrippina


Bombyliidaea aka Beeflies:
Flattened hairs can form
bright reflector patches

Exoprosopa caliptera Lepidanthrax

 Fly Diversity


Bombyliidaea aka Beeflies:
Males more or less similar
to females, no clearly
protruding genitalia or
claspers
 Fly Diversity


Mydidae aka Mydas flies: Includes some of the biggest flies in the
US; adults are pollinators; larvae are assumed to be predatory

Mydas xanthopterus
 Fly Diversity


Apioceridae aka Flower-loving flies: similar to robbers but lack
the beak and the high thorax; males have huge claspers;
pollinators as adults; larvae assumed to be predatory

Apiocera
 Fly Diversity

Apioceridae aka Flower-
loving flies: the biggest
species look like beeflies
on steroids
Rhaphiomidas acton
 Fly Diversity


Syrphidae aka Hoverflies: similar to beeflies but are usually shinier
and more strongly black+yellow banded; no scale-like hairs; no
veins reach rear edge of wing tip; larvae are often predatory on
aphids and such

Copestylum